Arisu's Life as a Japanese American
by Story Writer568
Summary: This short story is about a girl and her families stuggle after the bombing of pearl Harbor. These are not real characters but some real struggles and information. It was a homework assignment that got good reviews.


Short Story About a Japanese American Family After The Bombing of Pearl Harbor.

By: Story Writer568

**_The bombing of pearl harbor has changed life here a lot. People are being told to gather their things and leave their homes. There is a _**

**_very bad air around me and I have a bad feeling about things. Mom and dad have been talking for awhile and brother is there too. _**

**_Sister was told to watch over me and I know that bothers her. "Arisu stop staring out the window," says my sister Nina. Everyone is _**

**_on edge and the bombing is the only excuse I can think of for it. I wish Mom would have told Haku to watch me because I think my _**

**_brother would make me feel more calm right now.__I wait for the talking to stop and when it does I know something's wrong but I don't _**

**_want to believe it. Haku comes out along side father while mother goes upstairs. Haku walks up to me while my father Takashi takes _**

**_Nina aside to talk. "Arisu, I need you to go upstairs and pack your most important things." He gives me his warm smile but I feel the _**

**_need to question him and he knows. "Haku what's going on?, I am sixteen, I can handle it." "Arisu, the bombing of pearl harbor has _**

**_made the American's mad, and they are sending us and our belongings to things called internment camps." "But we had nothing to do _**

**_with the bombing!" "It does not matter, everyone is a suspect to them." My heart sinks as I stand strong and calm. I turn away to go _**

**_to my room and pack when Haku calls back to me. "Arisu." I turn to face him as he whispers to me,"One more thing. I need you to _**

**_keep our mother, Sakura, and Nina safe."This scares me the most because he has never asked something like this of me." "But _**

**_Haku...." He interrupts, "You are stronger and calmer then Nina so you need to be the one to watch their backs." We don't have much _**

**_time says father as he passes by and ruffles my hair to comfort me. "Ok", I say as I run to my room and throw stuff together in my _**

**_trunk.__I am the youngest in my family yet I have been given a great responsibility by my twenty one year old brother to protect my _**

**_twenty year old sister and thirty eight year old mother. My mother is the first one downstairs, and then my sister and my father. My _**

**_brother carries my trunk for me as we reach the kitchen. Dad hugs mom and Nina, and I am not quite sure why. He walks to me and _**

**_hugs me also. Haku's smile is gone now as he and dad take the bags outside. Four men take our belongings and put them on a bus, _**

**_behind the one to transfer us to a place called Tanforan. Now Haku is hugging Nina and mother as he walks over to me. He hugs me _**

**_tight, and I have the feeling that I won't see him after this. Mom and Nina get on the bus and I follow. Haku smiles at me as I look at _**

**_him, not following. "Are you coming, Haku? Dad?" "I am sorry Arisu, but we cannot come," says dad. "Don't worry, I promise we will _**

**_be reunited again," says Haku calmly. My chest starts to hurt as if my heart is going to burst from it, and the tears start to roll down _**

**_my face and a lump forms in my throat as my fears come true. The doors close in front of my face as Nina drags me inside. My legs _**

**_move right from under me as I run to the window at our seats to see Haku and father pass by as the bus moves forward toward _**

**_Tanforan and away from them.__My mind is blank, an empty space where my thoughts will not pass through. My mother calls my _**

**_name, but I am in a state of shock. "Arisu!" I look at her, but say nothing. "Don't look so sad, Haku and Takeshi will be in a different _**

**_camp that's all. We will see them again." I hear what she says, but I don't believe it. How could her and Nina be so unaffected about _**

**_things when we could never see them again. I look to Nina, who is staring into space looking like she is about to cry, and I know how _**

**_she feels. I look to the window and start to think. I watch the scenery go by, the trees, the sky, the roads, and the homes that soon _**

**_turn into farms, or ranch type places.__About two hours later, we arrive. As the bus stopped, I saw thousands of Japanese Americans _**

**_like me waiting for something. I learned these people had been here already for a few days, and were waiting to see if they could find _**

**_anyone they knew. I didn't bother because the only people I wanted to see, I already knew were not coming. I mopped around while _**

**_we waited to be directed to our living quarters. We went beneath the grandstand like everyone else while we were registered. We _**

**_passed the baggage check, and the medical check also. We were assigned to barrack sixteen, apartment twenty. The race tracked _**

**_place was all muddy, but no one seemed to care. I watched as two kids helped their mother to their apartment. The apartments were _**

**_horse stalls and, of __course, they were unclean, dusty, cold, dark, smelly and dirty. We have three cots placed across from each other. _**

**_The air is cold because of the cracks in the wall, but I don't really care. All I want is for things to go back to the way they were before _**

**_the bombing. Everywhere I step there is dust and mud from our shoes. My mom and Nina unpack our pillows, sheets, and blankets _**

**_and put them on __our beds. "Arisu come make your own cot!," says Nina frustrated because her sheets don't exactly fit her cot just _**

**_right. I walk to my cot, where my things are neatly folded and I start to put on my sheets on. Mine don't really fit either, but I don't _**

**_mind. I place my pillows at one end of the bed and I spread my thermal blanket on it neatly. It is already night so I decide to get _**

**_under my covers and go to sleep. It is dark and pitch black and I cannot see anything but I hear the restlessness of the night and of _**

**_the children that cannot sit still in their beds. I can sense the fear that people feel around me, for I feel it too, But I stay calm and _**

**_listen until I am finally able to fall asleep.__Morning comes as I hear birds chirping and children playing. My mother and sister are gone, _**

**_and I get up to make my bed. I leave the stall and walk outside, I stop and look up at the brightly lit sky and as I feel the warm sun on _**

**_my face, I stretch and yawn. I take in the world around me and wish Haku was here to see it too, but maybe he was looking at it too, _**

**_wherever he is. As I observed, nothing was done. They were giving out mattresses this morning, and I figured that's where everyone _**

**_was this morning._ _I don't really care about them because I do not plan on getting comfortable in this place, because of the bombing _**

**_and the stupid people who decided to do it, we are being punished! As I walk around, I notice people cleaning up their barrack and find _**

**_Nina sweeping and mom putting mattresses on our cots. Mom see's me come through the door, "Well good morning, sleepyhead." I _**

**_wonder what's so good about it. "Arisu, help mom with the mattresses." I walk over to mom, and she hands me a mattress and I put _**

**_it on Nina's bed. "So where did you get the broom, Mom?" "Oh we saw our neighbors from home and it turns out they've been here _**

**_for awhile, so they got us some helpful thing's_." _I see a lamp_ _and a miniature hot plate to make tea on. "Arisu, you better go take a _**

**_shower before the water gets to cold for anyone to use." I obey, and I walk to the showers. Lucky for me, I am the only one there. I _**

**_turn on the faucets and cold water runs out onto my hands. I don't really mind the cold water ever since the one time when I was _**

**_five and I fell through some ice, and Haku and dad had to come in after me. After I'm done washing up I get dressed and go to see _**

**_what's for lunch. I smell the must and dirt of some of the other barracks as I pass them. I don't really interact with many other _**

**_people, but mom say's they_ _are really nice.__No one really cared that they were numbered instead of being called by their names. _**

**_When I arrived I saw many lines of people and they were long. I got into a line and waited for about twenty minutes in the gloomy _**

**_mess hall. The floor was damp and it was getting colder. When I got my food, I was not interested in finding a table, and the food _**

**_looked and smelled_ _bad. Somehow mom and Nina were finding the upsides to this place when I hated it so much. I was getting ready _**

**_to leave, when some one behind me started to talk to me,"Excuse me, but if you want you can come sit with me and my mom." I _**

**_turned_ _around to see a boy that looked about the same age as me. "That's ok, I'm probably going to just throw it out, I mean it looks _**

**_and smells horrible." "Alright, well, the invitation's still open if you want some company, you look lonely." He turns to walk away and _**

**_I feel bad for not accepting his offer, so I walk up to him, "thanks for the offer, I'll come with you." We got to the table and I meet his _**

**_mom. We talk about what we have been doing since we got here and where we came from. I threw out the food because it was really _**

**_nasty and I could not take anymore of it. When we were done I thanked them for their company, and told them my name and where _**

**_our barrack was. I found out their names too and they were Sasuke, age seventeen_ _and Hinata, age thirty nine. We said our goodbye's _**

**_and I knew I had some new friends.__I skipped dinner that night and went to bed early with a hungry stomach. For the next four days I _**

**_did the same things over and over again, but I had not seen Sasuke or his mother and I hoped everything was alright. Mom and Nina _**

**_became early risers and usually were done with their showers and washing our clothes before anyone else. I was a late riser and got _**

**_cold showers and missed dinner because of the bad food, but I tried to eat lunch which didn't go very well. I walked past different _**

**_barracks, as there was a lot of commotion in some. I decided to look for Sasuke to make sure they were alright. It is the least I can do _**

**_for the kindness they showed me. I went to the mess hall to see if they were there, but I did not see them. I walked past some _**

**_barracks, and even looked inside some, but I didn't find them and the bad thing was, I didn't try to eat lunch so I was getting hungry. _**

**_I stopped near a barrack and sat in the dirt near the doors to take a break. I heard an old man inside the barrack shout, "Hey Sasuke, _**

**_thanks for your help, we appreciate it, but go take a break, there will be plenty more tomorrow to help us with." As the doors opened, I _**

**_got up and moved away. He saw me move and apologized, "Sorry I didn't see you. What are you doing over here?""Oh I was looking _**

**_to see if you and your mom were ok, because I have not seen you guys in a while." "Oh, I'm sorry, I should have told you we are _**

**_helping the people in our barrack to cover the holes in the walls." So after I found that out, we went to the mess hall that was now _**

**_empty, and when I asked what we were doing there, he told me wait where I was. He came back with some food that was not nasty. _**

**_He told me how he has some friends back in the kitchen, and they sometimes would give him good food if he came to get it. I thanked _**

**_him, and when we were done, we went to my barrack where I was able to introduce him to my mom and Nina. Nina didn't seem _**

**_interested as she ignored him, but my mom was extremely happy that I found a friend.__When Sasuke left to go back to his barrack, I _**

**_asked if I could help out with their work tomorrow. He said it would be good to have another person's help, so I decided to go. The next _**

**_week I helped Sasuke out at his barrack, and we would eat lunch after, and then he would come to help me cover the holes in my _**

**_barrack. We had a lot of fun as friends walking around the camps and seeing everything outside of the barracks, we would talk about _**

**_our families, my brother and father and his father, and about the fun we had before the bombing of pearl harbor. I was happy, I found _**

**_a friend amongst the sadness, and pain I was feeling, and amongst the dirty, smelly, unkept camps. I found how nice people could be, _**

**_even in bad situations. When I went to see Sasuke the next day, I was happy but for some reason as I got closer to his barrack, the _**

**_bad sick feeling came into my stomach, the same one I had the day we left for the Internment camps, and I knew something bad _**

**_happened. I walked into the barrack and to apartment thirty where I found Sasuke's mother. She was sitting on her cot with a letter in _**

**_her hand and a terrified look on her face. At first I thought something happened to Sasuke because he wasn't there. She held the letter _**

**_up to me, and I took it from her hesitantly. The letter was from another camp and I soon realized that it was a letter informing them _**

**_of his fathers death and her husband. I felt the knot in my throat again as I thought of how Sasuke probably feels. I set the letter _**

**_down on the cot and went in search of Sasuke. I found him by the mess hall and I ran over and put my hand on his shoulder. I started _**

**_to feel the tears welling up in my eyes as I could almost feel the pain he was feeling. "I'm so sorry Sasuke." he didn't answer me but _**

**_he knew I was there. I gave him a hug because I figured that's what a friend should do. After I stopped hugging him he spoke, "It's _**

**_not fair what they are doing to us.""That's what I said ever since this started,"I replied.__I got him to go back to his barrack, and I left _**

**_him and his mom to talk. I could not sleep that night. My mom made them tea earlier when I told her, and she said they looked like _**

**_they were accepting it. I lay awake thinking of Haku and father, and how I longed to see my brother's warm smile to assure me _**

**_everything would be ok, and for my father to ruffle my hair. For the next couple of days I visited, they were recovering, and Sasuke _**

**_thanked me for my kindness. We soon began to walk around the camps again, and after a few days he was almost back to himself. He _**

**_told me he could not change what happened, and that now he had to focus on making sure his mother is well and alive. We became _**

**_the best of friends throughout the weeks and the month or two that we had been in these camps and we kept each other company. _**

**_We helped each other and our families got along well, even Nina.__After a couple of months, I was seventeen and I learned Sasuke's _**

**_birthday was close to mine and he turned eighteen. Today, we all were sitting down for tea when a letter came and we read it aloud. It _**

**_was from Haku and Father. It said they were to be transported to Tanforan in a few days. I was so shocked and in awe that when my _**

**_mom hugged me, It felt like a huge man just tackled me. When she let go and I could breathe again, Sasuke and his mother _**

**_congratulated us. I hugged Sasuke tight because I was so happy, and he hugged me back. I told him how much I wanted him to meet _**

**_Haku and my father. I waited anxiously for three days to see them, and on the next day they arrived. I was so happy I started to cry _**

**_as mom ran for dad, and so did Nina, and I ran for Haku. I saw his warm welcoming smile as I hugged him so tightly that I did not _**

**_want to let go. Mom and Nina came over to hug Haku as dad picked me up to hug me. As I was put back on the ground, I saw Sasuke, I _**

**_ran to him and grabbed his hand to pull him over to meet them. My dad and him shake hands, and my father knows what has _**

**_happened so he tells him that he is welcome with us anytime. Haku gives him a handshake too, and tells him, "Anyone who made _**

**_Arisu happy while I was gone is a brother to me." They accept him with open arms, and I know that makes him happy. We talk all _**

**_day about what each other has been through and how it was more unclean where they were then here. Sasuke and his mom join us _**

**_for tea as they get acquainted, I am so happy that I don't want this day to end. But Sasuke and his mom head home and I have to _**

**_head to bed. Two cots are put in our barrack for Haku and father. I lay in bed as I think about how I now have my family together.__I _**

**_never thought this would happen, we can live together and work together until we get out of here, and I also know that I have a great _**

**_friend that I love, and have loved since he befriended me. Together we can live as one big happy family. I begin to fall asleep knowing _**

**_that this will be the best night of sleep I have gotten in a long time._**


End file.
